Bread
by Ryouga Yagami
Summary: In the middle of a desert...


Bread Ryouga Yagami ryougayagami@hotmail.com  
  
Ranma 1/2 belongs to Rumiko Takahashi  
  
Ryouga Hibiki was hungry. Days and days lost, wandering on some strange landscape hoping to find a city in the middle of nowhere, but it seemed his directional sense was worse than usual. Normally he would find a city, get directions and go away after a meal. And even in days he was not in a city, he would be able to catch a little animal to eat, but this time he was really out of luck. He looked at the bright blue sky where a brighter yellow sphere punished his body. Ryouga wasn't doing a good job in concentrating, his mind thinking in food and water, food and water. In his pockets he had money enough to eat well in a good restaurant, but in his way no town, no one selling water, food. No one. He was alone for real. Alone.  
  
In the middle of his anger and anguish, Ryouga cried. His tears were pure salt, falling slowly through his face and landing on the dry ground. He kneeled and looked at the sky. When he opened his mouth, he felt his lips glued and for sometime he lost the control of his mind. Several images danced in his mind and he couldn't distinguish none of them, but knew all were failures of he as a martial artist, as a man, as a human. He felt the urge to cry, but felt no tears coming. This was for sure the most desperate moment of his life. A man that wasn't allowed to cry. Not even cry.  
  
From distant, Ryouga saw a blur. It could be an animal or a man. 'A man', Ryouga thought, 'Someone to help', and waited until the blur turned to a focused image of a white cloaked man. Ryouga extended his hand to the man, but couldn't say anything. The words were not coming from his mouth, though he knew exactly what he wanted to say. The white-cloaked man passed by Ryouga, but then he turned to face the young boy. He got a bottle and opened Ryouga's mouth. He spilled the water and Ryouga could finally get rid of the thirst. The Lost Boy panted for a minute and then thanked, but the white-cloaked man wasn't there anymore. 'It was an angel', Ryouga concluded and for sometime he forgot the hunger.  
  
Ryouga continued his way through what now his senses could define as a desert. Drink that water gave Ryouga hope and strength to continue. It wasn't a desert that would stop Ryouga Hibiki. Nothing could stop Ryouga Hibiki when he put a goal in his mind. And now, he just wanted to survive.  
  
After some hours, his hope was fading again. The desert was bigger than he thought and after finding the white cloaked man, Ryouga didn't see any life form. For a moment he even wished to see ants, so they could be his guaranty of being alive. He had doubts, maybe he was in hell and lost the moment he died. Maybe if he looked back for a moment, he would see his dead body being covered by the thin sand. He shook his head a little, he could not be dead. At least, he believed that dead, he would not feel pain. But if he was in hell, pain would be normal, wouldn't? 'Like I'm not used to it'  
  
Another blur. When Ryouga thought he was dead, he saw another blur. First, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Then, the blur was less distant, in a minute or so, the blur would get the dimensions of a man, of someone that could help him. In less than a minute, the black-cloaked man was on his side. 'Another angel?', Ryouga thought, but his instincts told him otherwise. 'Not an angel'. Ryouga could say that he was smirking under his cloak, what made him furious, someone was feeling pleasure, laughing of his disgrace. He gathered forces to stand up and staggered. He did a lot of effort to stay over his feet, but after sometime he managed to keep balance. Ryouga felt the man smirking more, what put him mad. But his madness could not be released, his stomach asked for food, his mind asked for food. Now every cell of his body asked for nourishment. His entire being wants to live.  
  
The man pulled a loaf of bread of a bag. Ryouga's eyes glinted, more of the salt than of the water. Ryouga swallowed and opened his mouth, "Food", he said simply, in a way anyone would understand as "I'm hungry, I need food or I will die". But Ryouga's state was enough, saying "Food", was redundant, but Ryouga wanted to be sure the man would understand his needs. He needed food and nothing more. Perhaps he needed water too, but when he saw the bread everything his mind asked was food.  
  
"This?", the man asked, torturing Ryouga for a moment, "It's yours", and threw the bread to the Lost Boy. If Ryouga wasn't so weak, he would not let the bread fall on the dry ground. But the hunger doesn't care about dirty and he kneeled beside the bread and ate it. Ryouga put small pieces in his mouth and ate slowly, feeling every piece. The man turned his back to Ryouga and said, "I baked this bread with fire that rises under the ground and kneaded it with these hands Earth would consume if I was a mortal", and disappeared.  
  
Ryouga stared at the place the man was and then stood up, the bread on his hands. "Not an angel for sure...", he said and then saw a city, "I could have waited", Ryouga looked at the bread again, a single tear falling over it, "Now my life is really hell"  
  
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Thank you 


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